Supreme Court To Hear Arguments In Class Actions Case

The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments tomorrow, October 31st, in Frank v. Gaos, a case in which CIR filed a supporting brief. Gaos will give the Court an opportunity to end the abuse of class action settlements, known as cy pres awards, in which lower courts award 100% of the settlement to attorneys and third party charities. CIR’s amicus brief urged the Court to consider the First Amendment implications of class action abuse, arguing that cy pres awards violate the First Amendment by compelling plaintiffs to support third party charities without their consent.